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"But what I began to learn that night was that God so loved Norm Evans that He gave His only Son. God…knew my name and knew my needs." -- Norm Evans
Source: Leader2Leader
PERSONAL JOURNEYS
NORM EVANS
Norm Evans: I started my football career in Donna, Texas, a little town that is 500 miles south of Dallas. Then I went off to Texas Christian University. I dreamed about getting a tryout in the pros, but didn't think I had much of a chance because I had had a lot of injuries.
At that time the college draft selections were published in the newspaper. I remember getting up one Sunday morning and looking down the list to see whom I recognized. Several of my teammates had been drafted, one by Green Bay and another by somebody else. I was like, "Wow, this is so great."
I got down to the 14th round under the Houston Oilers, and there was my name. I couldn't believe it. I started celebrating. My wife came running in, and I said, "I've been drafted by the Oilers." I went off to the Oilers, and then got traded in the expansion draft to the Miami Dolphins. It wasn't such a good deal in those early days to be a Miami Dolphin. I can recall when we got a standing ovation for two first downs in a row.
When I got shipped off to Seattle, we had a guy who was an example of commitment. Al Hunter was not a big guy. Actually, the only big thing about him was his feet. He had size thirteen feet. They called him hot feet. This guy could run. Al Hunter had an incredible positive attitude based on commitment.
If you're really sold out to something, no matter what, you just keep going for it. That's the way Al Hunter was. I'll never forget the time the lowly Seahawks had to play the mighty Pittsburgh Steelers when they were winning the Super Bowl about every other year. They were intimidating guys.
We discovered that they liked to take their middle line backer, a guy named Jack Lambert and key him on the quick back. That just means that anywhere Al Hunter went, Jack Lambert would mirror him. And it was Lambert's job when Hunter crossed the line of scrimmage to nail him. But on this play, it became Al Hunter's job to block the left tackle of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mean Joe Green.
Mean Joe Green was 6’6" and 286 pounds. Al Hunter was 5’10" at 165 pounds. Hunter goes running up in there to carry out his assignment. He hits Joe Green and bounces off. Joe didn't even know anybody tried to block him. We look around. There's Al Hunter, out like a light. We picked him up, carried him to the sideline, and lay him on a bench. The minute he woke up, he ran over to our head coach. He said, "Hey, coach, that play don't work too good."
Our coach understood commitment too. He realized that little things make a big difference. That's true in sports. He said, "Hunter, if you'll lower your block, that play will work."
If you're really committed, you'll be resilient. Though sometimes in life, you get flattened. And if you just lay there, life will pass you by. Or the game will.
But there's Hunter ready to go again. There's nothing in the world that makes good defensive tackles any more upset than for some skinny little running back to knock them down in front of 80,000 people. Hunter went running in there and cut the legs out from under Joe Green. And down Joe went. Joe looked around to see who blocked him. There was Hunter out cold again. Commitment. It's an important ingredient in succeeding.
When I got traded from the Houston Oilers to the Miami Dolphins, a remarkable thing happened to me. My wife and I came early for a little Florida vacation. One night, we were looking for the late movie on television. We were flipping the selector back and forth when we came to a local talk show. They were interviewing a man who was speaking locally. The next night, my wife and I got in our car and went to go hear him talk.
He talked about stuff I already knew. He said," Norm, God loves you." I've known that all my life. It's what I learned as a little kid. "For God so loved the world, He gave His only son that whosoever believed in Him should not perish but have eternal life, John 3:16."
But what I began to learn that night was that God so loved Norm Evans that He gave His only Son. God, the Creator of the universe who spoke countless galaxies into perfect precision throughout the entire universe, that Creator knew my name and knew my needs. And not only does He know my name and know my needs, but He loves me just like I am. No strings attached. He just says, "I love you."
The fellow said, "Norm, the Creator of the universe who not only knows your name, knows your needs and loves you just like you are, wants to have a vital, living, personal relationship with you." This creator of the universe, His name is Jesus, wanted to have this relationship with me.
I remember thinking when I got that scholarship to TCU, that when I got that degree, I'd have it made. I believe in education. But if you take education and try to fill the God void in your life, there's still going to be that emptiness. I got my degree before I went to training camp for the pros. If I made it in the NFL, I’d have the world by the tail. I'd have it made for sure. And I made it.
If you try to take your career and fill the God void in your life, you're still going to have emptiness. When I signed that contract for $10,000 with the Houston Oilers, and got a $1,000 bonus, I thought I was rich.
We went down and bought a brand new Chevy Supersport. I remember driving home, going down the street looking at myself in the store windows. New apartment, nice clothes, but things never filled the God void in my life. Relationships. Lovely wife. People cannot fill a God void in your life. That night, this guy said, "God wants to have a relationship with you." I had tried everything else. Here I was a pro athlete. I had reached my goals, but I still felt like there's got to be more to life than this.
That night I said a very simple prayer. It went something like this. "God, these people say that I can have a relationship with You. And here I thought I had been committed to You all my life. God, I don't understand why You would love me so much You would commit Your Son to a cross for me. And I want to receive Him. And I thank You for loving me that much." It was simple. There wasn't any big flash. What I felt was relief.
I left with a sense of, now I don't have to try to pull this off on my own. That began something that's been so remarkable that it's alive and flourishing, and even more alive today than it was back in 1966. The man said, "There's some things you really ought to do to make it flourish. First of all, you ought to talk to God." I said, "I know about that. That's prayer." So, I started talking to God. He said, "Secondly, you need to be involved in a fellowship where others talking about God."
He said the third thing you need to do is tell others about your faith. I said, "Hold it. You want me to go into the NFL locker room and talk about Jesus? I hear His name there a lot, but never in a very positive light." He said, "Relax. Talk to your family." I said, "No, not the family. Let me go back to the locker room. I'd much rather go to the locker room than my family." He said, "Do you have a pet?" I said, "Yeah, we've got a little dachshund, Stubby." He said, "Talk to your pet."
So, I started talking to Stubby. He never called me a religious freak or anything like that. He just kind of liked the attention. Then the man said, "There's a fourth thing you ought to do, read the manufacturer's manual."
He said, "In football, don't you have a play book?" I said, "Yeah, as a matter of fact, we do." If you didn't learn the book, no job. You're out of there. If you lost the book, you had to pay the fine.
What has to happen to receive an inheritance? Somebody dies. Jesus died to make this book, the Bible, a living reality. You know what I did? I began reading it. I was amazed at what I discovered in it. The first thing I discovered was that I could know for sure I was forgiven.
In the NFL, life can be rather stressful. I'm from Texas. But I'm playing for Seattle. And I'm a blocker. It was my job to block Too Tall Jones when we played the Cowboys. I'd rather beat Dallas than anything. We, the lowly Seahawks, were ahead of the Dallas Cowboys by one touchdown. We were driving for another. I was blocking Too Tall. Then it happened. I felt it. Somebody landed on my knee, and it snapped. I tried to stay in the game. But I couldn't. I had to go to the sidelines.
I tried to look at the scoreboard. I couldn't see it. My eyes were half full of tears. I was terrified. Thirty-four year old tackles don't get well from knee surgery. And then, I remembered what Jesus said in John 14:27, "I give unto you not as the world gives. My peace isn't fragile. So, don't worry. Don't be afraid."
I remember saying, "God, I've never been more afraid in my life. And I'm worried sick. And if I ever needed your peace, I need it right now." And sitting alone in the middle of the King Dome with 65,000 people, I experienced the supernatural peace of God.
Jesus said, "Peace I give unto you not as the world gives." So, I experienced a supernatural peace from God. And I've had that happen over and over again. I know I have the right to peace because it's my inheritance. By the way, I had to go clear to Oregon to find a doctor that finally said no surgery on the knee. Four weeks later, I was playing again. Nobody could believe it.
Not only have I experienced the peace of God, but also the healing of God. I've experienced His pardon. But what got my attention was His passion. For God so loved Norm Evans that He gave His only son. I haven't gotten over that in thirty plus years. I'm still learning more about how much God loves me.
From: Wimmer, John
Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2008 10:06 PM
Subject: Great Story Mr. Evans
What a great Testamony Mr. Evans, God has truly blessed you & your wonderful Family. I wanted to say thank you for all of the memories of the 1970’s when you played for the Miami Dolphins. I was a 12 year old kid watching the Dolphins & you run over people, in my opinion, Miami is the best Team of all time, you guys as a team did incredible things as a unit. The way the dolphins won, Furness, as well as muscle, skill, what is amazing to me Norm, The dolphins have received the least praise and credit for what you guys did. All the records, 17-0 Three back to back superbowls, almost four. God bless you
 
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